Part
36.
Ugo had been watching the man with the dangerous eyes for
several months. He already knew every step and every visitor by heart. For a
long time, it seemed as if there was nothing suspicious. But one day, quite a
few people started loitering about. Ugo observed them closely. It was not
difficult for an experienced man to identify bandits.
He moved around them nearby, sometimes passing even too
close, sometimes asking for the time or something else; as always, skillfully
disguised, no one could recognize him easily, and they paid little attention to
him.
Ugo was not mistaken. The man with the dangerous eyes was
preparing for a new strike, and it was already time to appear before his old
client and somehow regain his trust.
At the sight of the "risen from the dead" Ugo,
the man with the dangerous eyes froze in place.
- I wasn't expecting you... - he whimpered.
He nearly had a heart attack, partly from anger and
partly from fear; he broke out in a cold sweat. Now, Dada was no longer the
first priority; Ugo was the one who needed to be removed again. The man with
the dangerous eyes was the eldest son in the family. He used this privilege
even too much. No matter how much he had, he still had his eyes on everything
and tried by any means to achieve his intended goals, even if they were harmful
to others, which often caused quarrels and commotion in the family. The stream
of people embittered and complaining about him never stopped.
His parents tried everything, but they could not root the
evil out of his soul. The man with the dangerous eyes became even more reckless
and stopped at nothing; he took advantage of being the firstborn, treated his
younger brother brutally, and constantly oppressed him. There was no end to his
evil. He tried through all kinds of tricks to get rid of his brother and be the
sole heir to the property. His brother, however, had no claims to anything. He
wanted to live quietly and peacefully for himself, but the man with the
dangerous eyes would not leave him alone and was always envious of everything
he had. He would burst with jealousy whenever he saw his father paying more
attention to his younger son.
One day, he decided that, whatever the cost, he had to
get rid of his only brother.
Sometimes he tried to scare him with cruel jokes, other
times he had robbers waiting for him on the road, having them beat him so badly
that no one thought he would survive. Yet, as if to spite him, his younger
brother was always favored by luck; no matter how many dangers he encountered,
he survived every single time. Once, he even tried to poison him, but luck
failed him here too, and the poisoned wine intended for his brother was drunk
by a guest instead, who died on the spot. A huge scandal broke out then, and
the authorities got involved, but thanks to his influential father, this
incident—just like many of his other malicious acts—was easily covered up.
There was no end to the malice of the man with the
dangerous eyes. It seemed as if everything had been settled; the man appeared
to have calmed down, but the evil nested in his soul would not let him rest,
and he even reached out to his younger brother’s new bride. That was already
too much. Driven out and cast out of his father's house, he later wanted to
reclaim his old "family honor." To fulfill his evil intentions, he
stopped at nothing; he conspired with the Padrone and mercilessly had his own
brother’s family slaughtered.
And yet, he had counted the corpses well, and [he kept
asking himself]:
"How did that cursed child turn out to be alive?
How did she survive the frenzy of the wild
gypsies?"
He blamed the Padrone for this again and was bursting
with malice.
"For years he was lying to me, and he kept a
living witness in his own house!
He was raising that snake's offspring right at home!
Who knows when she might rise up against me!"
The thought of this robbed him of his peace. How many
times had he dreamt of the big-eyed girl aiming a gun at his face and splitting
his forehead with a bullet.
This time, he hired men who were well-armed and ready for
anything. He no longer trusted Ugo, but the sight of the "hitman who had
returned from the beyond" unsettled him even more. At first, he was
categorically against it. He did not want the treacherous Ugo involved, but he
sensed he couldn't get rid of her otherwise, so he preferred to use him again.
He especially liked this idea when he learned that Ugo was the only one who
could sneak into Dada's room using the easiest method. That was when his caution
failed him, and he could not resist the temptation. He could barely stand on
his feet from joy; he was fidgeting so much he nearly had a heart attack.
No, Ugo was not at all reliable, but what could a lonely
Ugo do against such a large gang?
The man with the dangerous eyes demanded that Dada be
killed right before his eyes. As for the rest, it would happen however it
turned out. The main thing was to let no one go alive and, in the end, to
finish off Ugo as well. He himself wanted to be sure that they would carry
everything out faithfully. That is why his categorical demand was to see
everything with his own eyes.
LEX. Thursday, March 24, 2016.
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